Star Trek Into Darkness is the rare well-received followup to a critically and financially-successful franchise blockbuster that hasn’t outstripped its predecessor at the box office (so far). It’s possible that a backlash against J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars-ian take on the late Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi franchise is to blame; or, more likely, the film’s marketing campaign – which was so focused on preserving secrecy around the film’s villain – didn’t really get audiences properly excited.
Regardless, Into Darkness ticket sales have been quite healthy during the first couple weeks of release ($184 million worldwide), with openings in several foreign markets to come. So, there’s no reason to believe that Star Trek 3 – the third installment in Abrams’ rebooted continuity and 13th Trek movie overall – is not going to reach theaters, possibly in time for the property’s 50-year anniversary in 2016.
Star Trek 3 probably won’t have Abrams sitting in the captain’s director’s chair, as he will be preoccupied for the next two years with developing, shooting, editing and hyping Star Wars: Episode VII; that is, unless Paramount postpones the U.S.S. Enterprise’s next voyage until 2017 (it’s a possibility). Latino Review‘s El Mayimbe has the scoop on one candidate in the running to take Abrams’ place:
“I guess y’all wanna know about who might be directing STAR TREK 3 if it ever goes. Heard Joe Cornish BUT also heard he’s on a list of names. I’m NOT saying Joe Cornish is the guy, but what I am saying is the he is definitely one of NUMEROUS contenders.” – @elmayimbe
Mayimbe went on to say that “quite frankly there is no story there,” seeing how the Star Trek 3 situation – which includes the director of choice – is in a fluid state. Cornish may end up being the first of multiple names that gets tossed around, but doesn’t stick to the wall (similar to what happened back when he was shortlisted to direct The Hunger Games: Catching Fire); nonetheless, the prospect of Cornish guiding the Enterprise crew’s next mission is worth being addressed and discussed in greater detail.
Cornish co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin as well as Marvel’s upcoming Ant-Man movie (with director Edgar Wright), but his most noteworthy accomplishment is the sci-fi action/comedy Attack the Block. That critical gem – which landed the #2 spot on Screen Rant’s Favorite Movies of 2011 – shows why Cornish would be considered for the Star Trek 3 directing job, given how well he served a socially-conscious sci-fi story featuring an ensemble cast on that film (with that creative spark often lacking in Hollywood tentpoles nowadays).
However, if history is anything to judge by, then this Star Trek 3 director story is a long ways from being over. For one, Cornish’s lack of big-budget filmmaking experience no doubt affected his candidacy to helm Catching Fire – which ended up being entrusted to director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) instead – and he has the same disadvantage here.
Moreover, it wasn’t until after he had released Super 8 in theaters that Abrams was confirmed to direct the (at the time) untitled Star Trek sequel. He’s going to produce Star Trek 3, so it might be a similar long wait before Abrams stops dancing around the subject of whether or not he could end up directing Star Trek 3 after Episode VII has been completed.
Would you like Joe Cornish to direct Star Trek 3? Would you prefer to have the movie’s release date delayed until 2017, so Abrams can direct – or should another filmmaker take over the franchise? Let us know in the comments section.
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Star Trek Into Darkness is now playing in U.S. theaters.
